What is the change?
The law dated April 30, 2025 transposes the EU Directive 2021/1883 into the French immigration law and is effective as of May 2, 2025.
It aims at easing the conditions for issuing the European (EU) Blue Card for residence permit thus facilitating the mobility to France of third country highly qualified employees.
The implemented changes are as follows:
- The presentation of a valid employment contract or a firm offer for a highly qualified job for a period of at least 6 months will be required, compared to the previous 12 months period.
- Its validity duration is aligned to the duration of the employment contract; the permit could be delivered for up to 2 years (short term contract), or up to 4 years for employment contract exceeding 2 years.
- The required salary threshold remains unchanged set at 1.5 times the gross annual reference salary, €53,836.50 (a reassessment of the annual reference salary may occur soon).
- For eligibility criteria, the law introduces a proof of professional experience of 3 years over the past 7 years (for specific positions), as an alternative to the 3-year diploma or 5 years of professional experience.
- Mobility within the EU is made more flexible after a period of legal residence of 12 months (compared to 18 months previously) in the first Member State. EU Blue Card holders and their family members will be able to move to France without a visa and to apply for a French Talent card within one month after arrival.
- Access to EU long-term resident status eased as cumulative periods of residence in another Member State will be taken into account.